For a Different Kind of Monster
by Saint River 2.0
Summary: Slight AU fic. To most people, the Titans are the scariest things out there. Giant, lumbering dimwitted yet dangerous monsters whose main goal is to drive Humanity into extinction. But to Eren, Mikasa and Armin, there is a different kind of monster out there. A monster they call friend. And it all started with an Egg.


**IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE 1:** On the Shingeki no Kyojin/Attack on Titan side, this is based on episodes 1 and 2. For the Digimon side, this is based heavily on Digimon Adventure Movie. By that, I mean the 20 minute long movie in Japanese showing Taichi and Hikari as younger children.

**IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE 2:** This is an AU fic. That being said, I don't have to explain myself how and why a Digimon is present in a world without computers.

**IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE 3:** I tried my best to avoid grammatical and spelling errors.

"Normal Talking"

'Normal Thinking'

_**Eren's Voice Over**_

* * *

**_This isn't a will, a confession or an autobiography. I write this down now, on the night before our graduation, in order to have a written version of my, Mikasa and Armin's reasons for joining the military, particularly the Recon Corp. Maybe in another life, events had happened very differently and I would have a different reason for joining the Recon Corp. Maybe I would have had a different goal._**

**_What I'm about to write down will sound unbelievable; something most people would say only children could make up. But we were children when it happened. It was years ago before we lost our home. Mikasa had just tragically lost her parents. My father took her in and we became her new family. I never know it would have come to this._**

"Carla, I want you to meet Mikasa. She's the latest addition to our family." Said Dr. Jaeger

Dr. Jaeger explained to Carla Jaeger what had happened to Mikasa's parents. But Carla was a good woman. She did not need to hear a sob story just to welcome the girl. Carla accepted Mikasa and treated her like the daughter she never had. Mikasa grew close to Eren and considered him her brother and began to think of Dr. Jaeger and Carla as her new parents.

Needless to say, it wouldn't have been long until Armin met Mikasa.

"Oi, Eren!" shouted Armin from the distance. He ran waving one of his arms.

"Armin!" Eren shouted back with a wave.

When Armin got to him, it was only then that he noticed Mikasa standing beside his good friend.

"Eh, who's this, Eren?"

"Oh yes! You still haven't met each other. Armin, this is Mikasa Ackerman. She's part of the family now." Eren gestured his hand from Armin to Mikasa. Then from Mikasa to Armin "Mikasa, this is Armin Arlert. He's my closest friend here."

"Hi, Mikasa, nice to meet you."

"Same to you."

"So Mikasa, why are you living with Eren and his family?"

"Armin!" Eren quickly interjected "That's not exactly-"

Mikasa cut him off "It's okay, Eren. If he's your closest friends, then I don't mind telling him."

**_And so, Mikasa told Armin what had happened to her and what she and Eren did. Armin didn't think badly of them in any way. After all, Eren did it to rescue Mikasa and Mikasa was just defending herself as well as returning the favor. Since then, the three spent most of their days together._**

**_Months went by; Mikasa grew closer to us boys. Close enough she revealed to us a secret._**

Taking them to the room she and Eren shared, Mikasa went over to a trunk she brought with her when she moved in with the Jaeger family. It was filled with her clothes and all her other possessions. Eren had found it strange. When Mikasa was packing her things, she was quite adamant to do it herself. When it was brought over, she emphasized that it should be handled gently. When it was time to unpack, she was unwilling to accept help and insisted in doing it all herself.

And she made it very clear that no one is to ever open the trunk and see what remained inside as her clothes were placed in a closet. As demanding and strange as it was, the Jaeger family respect Mikasa's privacy. Eren could only silently speculate on Mikasa's reasons. He knew Mikasa had taken all of her clothes out of the trunk and surmised that all that's left are objects which held Sentimental value. Of course, Eren couldn't really be sure what was left inside the trunk.

Mikasa made it a strict rule that no one was allowed to open the trunk. Despite the fact that it was lock and the key was always in Mikasa's person. So Eren couldn't help but wonder why Mikasa would finally reveal to him and Armin what she had kept secret.

"It's because I trust you guys." Mikasa told them

Armin and Eren felt good inside. Mikasa trusted them enough with her secret whatever that secret may be.

Mikasa took the key out of her person and carefully inserted it the trunk's keyhole. She opened the trunk. Anti-climactically and realistically enough, not bright lights came from the trunk and no one was singing Hallelujah in the background.

Seeing for the first time the interior of Mikasa's trunk, Eren couldn't help but be slightly disappointed. It was nearly empty. All it had was a small portrait of Mikasa and her parents, a few mementoes to remember them by, one of them being an old whistle, and the object Mikasa was now holding in her hands.

"An egg?" Armin said

"A big egg to be exact" added Eren as he pointed to the egg and poked it

Correct. It was indeed a big egg. About ten times the size of a chicken's egg. It was also oddly colored. Having rings which were colored orange, white, and blue. Was this it? Was that egg, if it really is one, what Mikasa had tried so hard to keep secret?

"It does look like an egg but honestly, I don't know what it is. My mother said her mother's mother found this when she was a little girl and decided to keep it. Then it was finally passed to me."

"So… what do we do with it?"

"Do we cook it and make a big Omelet?" Eren's suggestion was met with a mild bonk on the head by Mikasa's fist. "Okay, sorry, sorry."

Eren spotted the whistle "Hey, Mikasa, can I have this?" he blew it but Mikasa swiftly took it from him.

"No" she pocketed it "And just to make sure, I'll be keeping this with me."

Suddenly, the egg wiggled out of Mikasa's hands and fell to the floor.

"Whoa!" the three children cried in amazement

The egg moved about the room in random patterns until a crack was heard. The egg stood still and cracks were appearing all over it.

"Eh?"

"It's hatching" Armin pointed out

Soon enough, a small, round, black creature, about the half the size of their heads, emerge from the egg. It had only to yellow glowing eyes, two buds on top of its head which the three children assumed were its ears and it had no apparent mouth.

"What is it?" Armin asked

But the children weren't scared. They were curious. Eren took one step forward but it frightened the newborn creature and it fled under Mikasa's bed. With their curiosity driving them, the three kids went flat on the floor and peeked beneath the bed. They were met with pink bubbles being blown to their faces.

"Eww… is it spitting at us?"

"Come on out, little guy. We won't hurt you" urged Eren as he inserted his arm and open hand under the bed.

But that only made it inched further away.

Mikasa didn't know exactly what went through her mind at that moment but she took out the whistle and started whistling. The little creature responded in kind by blowing more bubbles.

"I think that works. Do it again, Mikasa." Encouraged Armin

It took a little more convincing before the little, black blob inched closer and closer until it was on Eren's hand. "Yes, it worked" whispered Eren.

Slowly Eren took his hand out of the bed and gently stood straight. The three kids surrounded the little creature and observed it, just like it observed them.

"What is it?" Armin asked a second time

"It's definitely not a chicken." Eren pointed out the obvious as he held the creature with both hands to ensure he won't drop it.

"Puyusuke is kind of cute" Mikasa commented. She carefully took the black blob off of Eren's hand and into her own.

That brought Eren and Armin's attention. Never had they ever heard Mikasa regard anything as cute. They looked at each other as they pondered that, then to Mikasa who was staring at the creature, then to each other again. After that, they shrugged it off. They guessed there had to be first for everything. Plus it did come from an egg which she took care of.

So they brought their attention to another issue. "Puyusuke?"

"What? Don't like Puyusuke, huh?"

Eren and Armin didn't give any sort of reaction for a few second before ultimately shaking their heads. So Mikasa suggested "Bota-bota?" Eren and Armin looked at each for a second time and once again, they shook their heads at Mikasa.

Mikasa gave them a rare look of being annoyed "The Black Devil?" Now that really got their attention. They seemed to have agreed on it as they nodded their heads at that.

"Boys…" Mikasa shook her head at them

Their attention was brought back to the back blob when it blew bubbles at them again.

"It must be hungry." Mikasa concluded

And Eren was thinking 'How'd she know that? Maternal instinct of some sort?'

Armin, on the other hand, stated "You're right. It's just been born and it hasn't eaten a thing yet."

Nothing else needed to be said. They left Eren and Mikasa's room and went to the kitchen. Mikasa placed the newly named Black Devil on the table. Eren took out a loaf of bread and dropped it before the little creature. It was only then that a thought came to Eren.

"Wait, it doesn't have a mouth. How does it…" Eren need not go on as they saw Black Devil move closer to the bread and somehow began to munch on it. "Never mind"

"So Mikasa…" Armin started "You said this egg was found by your great grandmother when she was girl, right?"

"Yeah…"

"Then she and, later on, your grandmother, your mother then you kept it hidden after all this time?"

"Yes"

"No sunlight, no air, no warmth. How did it survive?"

That was something Mikasa never gave any thought.

"That's right!" agreed Eren "No normal egg could have survived such conditions!"

Then it hit them like a brick and they facepalmed themselves "It survived because it isn't a normal egg!"

"What is thing anyway?" Armin asked for the third time "It's definitely not a bird. It's certainly not a lizard nor is it a snake."

"Maybe it's a new egg-laying mammal?" suggested Eren. That only resulted in Armin and Mikasa looking at him annoyed.

"Don't be ridiculous, Eren. There are no mammals that lay eggs." Actually there is but none of them knew that. They didn't yell at Eren but it was enough to insult his intelligent.

"Well don't get angry at me! It's not as if you people know what it is!"

When they looked back down at the creature, they didn't find the black blob that they saw come out of the egg. It was pink with happy pink eyes, long ribbon-like ears and wide mouth. The bread it was eating was all gone.

"Ah! It ate all the bread."

"And it changed form."

"Looks like we won't be able to call it the Black Devil anymore" Mikasa sighed in relief.

The now pink happy creature turned to Mikasa and happily bounced on the table, using its ears to lift it up. It was strange creature to Armin. Its ears seemed to have no bones and too thin to have any muscles powerful enough to lift its weight.

"It appears happy to see you, Mikasa-mama" Eren said teasingly with a huge grin.

Mikasa narrowed her eyes and gave a powerful piercing stare at Eren who cringed and took a step back.

The pink ball of happiness then latched on to Mikasa's face. The girl took a few steps back in surprise.

"Oh no! It must still be hungry!" an alarmed Eren and Armin quickly went over to Mikasa who sounded like she was choking.

"Hey! Let go of Mikasa's face!"

"She's not food!"

The two boys took hold of the creature and pulled it off. Mikasa took a deep breath. The creature then latched on to Eren's face. They heard sounds of Eren trying to call out for Armin and Mikasa to pull off the pink ball. "Mmmmffffmmmmfffmffmfmff"

Mikasa was still catching her breath so it was left to Armin to do the work. Armin got it off of Eren.

"Don't do that! Bad, bad, little pink thing!"

That only resulted in the creature latching on to his face. But it only lasted a second. It fell back to the hands of a spaced out Armin. And for a second time, it momentarily latched on to his again. It bounced off Armin's hand and went back to the table. It kept bouncing and gazing at the three humans.

Seeing the face expression it had on its face, the three humans lowered their guard and approached it again.

Armin tried to communicate again "I'm Armin. AAAARRRMMIIIIINN"

"Uh, Armin, I highly doubt it understands you." Laughed Eren

The pink creature hugged Armin's face again.

"Told you" Eren kept on laughing but that soon came to a stop

"Hello, Armin, I'm Koromon" that completely shocked the three. Their mouths dropped. They were clearly not expecting it to speak.

"You can talk!?" cried all three

Koromon just kept smiling "Uh-huh!" and it hugged Armin again

"Why do you keep doing that?" inquired the recipient of the face hug

Koromon explained "It's a sign of friendship!" then it hugged Mikasa and Eren again. Not as long as before then it went back to bouncing on the table.

"A sign…" began Mikasa

"of friendship…" finished Eren and Armin

"Yup!" boy was it happy!

"So your name is Koromon?" Mikasa took Koromon in her hands again "I'm Mikasa and the other boy is Eren" she turned Koromon to Eren's direction.

"Mikasa, Eren and Armin? Got it!"

"Hey, Koromon, want to see the rest of Shinganshina?! There's this hug wall around the district!" asked Eren

"I'd like that!" Koromon happily answered

"No, hold on" Mikasa interjected "We can't just bring Koromon outside. I'm pretty sure that we're not the only ones who have never seen Koromon."

"We'll just say that he's a toy!" Eren was very excited to show Koromon around.

In fact, Eren didn't bother trying to listen to any other arguments. He just took Koromon out of Mikasa's hands, held him over his head and dashed out the door.

"First the walls!" Eren yelled "After that, we'll teach you…" it trailed off indicating Eren had already moved a considerable distance from what their ears could allow them to hear.

"Hey, Eren, come back here with Koromon!" called out Mikasa

**_And so we showed Koromon around and we became good friends. In our excitement, we completely forgot to ask him what he was. We were just happy to have found a friend unlike any other. Koromon wasn't human yet he spoke and truly interacted with us. I mean, how many people out there can claim they have a friend who's some kind of animal. _**

**_We spent days, weeks, hiding Koromon's true nature from everyone else including Mom and Dad and Hannes. To them, Koromon was just a toy which Mikasa had hid in her trunk until then. We never did get to find out what Koromon was. All the fun we had with him drove all the thoughts of finding out what he was out of our minds. We didn't even ask him what he was. We didn't care. Having him around was good enough for us._**

**_We all thought things would remain that way with Koromon but…_**

"Wha-wha-what is that thing?" yelled a very scared Carla.

Standing up from her seat in front of the dinner table, Carla grabbed the nearest knife and pointed it at the threat which stood at the other end of the table. "Eren, Mikasa!" she called out to her children "Get behind me!"

The two children, sitting across each other, ignored their mother's words and focused on the new creature at the other end of the table. Apparently, Koromon grew bigger, much bigger, with a whole new form.

"Eren, Mikasa, get behind me!" their mother shouted a second time. She looked about just ready to attack.

The two immediately got in front of Koromon who was now a six feet tall, orange, bipedal creature which they could best describe as being close to that of a dragon or at the very least a lizard. It had a short tail, three long sharp claws on both hands and feet and huge mouth with lots of teeth. No longer the cute, soft-looking pink ball of happiness. He appeared more feral.

They had placed Koromon at the other end of the table as they always have. Koromon played the dutiful role of being a toy, staying still and doing nothing. But today, he unexpectedly made the facial expression of someone in distress or sick. He fell of the table and emerged out in his new form.

Pink ball of happiness or giant lizard, it made no difference. He was still their friend.

"Mom, wait!" they cried, waving their hands defensively.

"Eren, Mikasa, what are you doing?! Get away from that thing?!"

"Mom, mom! It's okay!"

"He's a friend!"

"A friend?" Carla couldn't believe it.

"Yes, yes. A friend. This is Koromon. He is our friend. He's safe. He won't harm us."

Carla still had the knife in her hands. She took deep breaths as she observed that the Giant Lizard thing. It hadn't attack Eren and Mikasa who were right in front of it.

"It's okay, mom. Put down the knife" Eren calmly told his mother. He was trying to avoid his mother and his friend from having a needless fight. A needless fight which their mother would have surely lost.

Mikasa walked over to her mother who had drop the knife back on the table. Taking hold of her mother's wrist, Mikasa pulled her to the new, larger Koromon. Eren was already rubbing the snout of Koromon who had bent his head down to allow him to do so since Eren could probably not have reached him if he kept standing straight. Carla could tell it liked having its snout rubbed. Mikasa released her mother's wrist when they got close enough.

"He's safe, mother." Mikasa assured her for the last time

"Oh right, you two haven't been officially introduced." Eren realized.

Yes, they've told Koromon that Carla was their mother. But they told Carla that Koromon was just a toy.

"Koromon, this is our mother, Carla Jaeger. Mom, this is Koromon. We don't really know what he is."

Koromon raised his head slightly and nudged it gently at Carla. "See, he already likes you" Eren exclaimed happily

Reluctantly and shakingly, Carla reached out and placed her hand on Koromon's snout, just like what her son is doing. When she saw Koromon did not object to her touch, Carla went on to rub his snout. Koromon closed his eyes and apparently smiled, approving of Carla.

Carla let out a deep sigh of relief.

"Wait till Armin knows about this." Eren said with much enthusiasm.

"Armin? He knows about this too?" asked Carla

"Yes!"

"Of course!"

"He was there was Koromon hatched!"

"When was this exactly?" a frown was starting form in Carla's face as well as her tone becoming angry.

Eren and Mikasa sensed it and slightly nervously answered "A few weeks ago."

"So let me get this straight. You two decided to keep a potentially dangerous beast in our home and neglected to tell me!"

"Koromon isn't dang-" both kids were interrupted

"What were you thinking?! Wait till I tell Armin's grandfather about this!" their mother was really upset about this.

"Mom, no!" that was Mikasa

"We can't tell anyone about Koromon." Added Eren

**_Needless to say, we spent about over an hour trying to convince our mother to not tell anyone about Koromon and to keep him a secret. We then spent another hour trying to convince her not to send Koromon away. I mean, where was a six foot orange lizard going to hide if we sent him away? Mother got even angrier when she deduced that the reason why the amount of food they had was reducing faster in the last few weeks. _**

**_But ultimately, mother allowed Koromon stay but we couldn't keep it a secret from father anymore. We told him first chance we got. He's reaction was far different from mother's._**

"This beast… what is it?" said Grisha Jaeger with astonishment and curiosity.

With such curiosity, he slowly went over to Koromon and patted his head which he allowed.

"That's the exact same question we've been asking since the start" of course, they told Armin too. He was actually the most impressed about it. "And we still don't know what he is."

"He is Koromon. He's our friend although you might say Mikasa is his mother." Mikasa elbowed Eren for the statement. "Ouch!"

"Seriously, dear, our children and Armin recklessly kept what could have been a dangerous monster in our home." Don't blame Carla for being against Koromon. She is a mother after all who was just looking after her family.

"Now, now, Carla, I don't think the children knew that, Korormon, was it, would grow into such a… monster." Grisha did not want to call Koromon a monster in case it might antagonize the mysterious beast.

Even after everything, Grisha could honestly say he had never imagined he could meet such a beast.

"A black, limbless blob with yellow eyes, ear buds and no apparent mouth. Then into a pink blob with red eyes and ribbon like ears which it uses to bounce with ease. And now into this. What growth and development. And from what you tell me, it was instantaneous, unlike how a tadpole develops into a frog."

"Pretty amazing, isn't it?" Armin agreed "I wish I was here to see him grow into that" he pointed at new Koromon "Kind of makes you wonder if he'll grow into something else."

"I don't think so." Eren said that in the disbelief that it couldn't.

"And I certainly hope not. He's already big enough. We're already keeping him in our house. If he gets any bigger, he may just destroy the roof."

"Mother, quit being so mean to Koromon!"

"Now, now, Mikasa, your mother means well but yes, dear, don't be so mean to Koromon."

"Hmph!"

"But do you really think Koromon will get bigger?" Mikasa was curious

"It's possible but seriously speaking, I hope not. He'll get discovered and we won't be able to protect him from those who may think he is an insidious monster and wants to do him harm."

"You're right" agree the three kids.

**_Another week passed us by with much incident. Koromon didn't change form, thank goodness. But it had only been a week. If our assumptions were correct about his growth, Koromon wouldn't grow any bigger until a few more weeks. We just wished he wouldn't for his sake. We kept him in the house. Since he was no longer small, we couldn't pass him off as a toy anymore. He remained mostly at home with mother._**

**_We did notice however that Koromon did not speak to us anymore. It was useless trying to ask why since he never said anything. So we all assumed it was part of his growth to lose his ability to speak as he grew larger. Still though, our friendship we Koromon never changed. Mother likes to think of him as a mere pet but he was more than that to us._**

**_And then came that one day when we, the human race, were given a grim reminder…_**

The Colossal Titan had mysteriously appeared and destroyed the gate.

"He- he made a hole in the wall." Armin muttered.

The Titans have been given an entrance to Shiganshina. People were running scared and screaming as the first Titan entered through the hole the Colossal Titan made.

"My house is over there" said a worried Eren before running off. Mikasa followed suit.

Gaining courage, Armin also went with his friends.

They passed by several people who were running the opposite direction as them. There were people who were crashed to death by the falling debris caused by the Colossal Titan's destroying of the wall. Taking one turn to the left, Eren, Mikasa and Armin were met with the awful site of the Jaeger house being crashed by debris as well.

"Mom!" cried out Eren

The three kids were shocked to see the Jaeger family mother trapped by the very roof of fallen house, buried up to her shoulder with only one arm free and out in the open.

"Koromon?! Koromon?!" Armin called out to their friend

Carla answered Armin's panicked questions "I saw him get blown away, out of the house when that boulder crashed on it. But I don't know where he ended up or if he is still alive."

"Armin, we'll worry about Koromon later. Right now, I need you and Mikasa to help me lift this wreckage off mother!"

Armin and Mikasa nodded. The three kids grabbed hold of the large chunk of wood pressing down on Carla. But even with all their combined might, the chunk of wood wouldn't budge. Armin and Mikasa knew that they were physically insufficient to move such a heavy object. But they quickly shook the thought out of their heads. They didn't want to give up. Armin couldn't bear to see his best friends lose their mother.

Several loud footsteps caught their attention. Looking up, they saw a few Titans close by. "We have to hurry!" Eren told them

"We know!"

"The Titans are coming! My legs are crushed by the debris. I won't be able to run even if I got out. Eren, Mikasa, Armin, run! Just leave me and go!"

"No! We're not leaving you!" Tears were already in Eren's eyes.

"We'll carry you, all three of us if we have to." Said Mikasa who was trying not to cry but failed. Armin was not fairing any better either.

"WOULD YOU THREE PLEASE LISTEN TO ME THIS ONE TIME!? JUST THIS ONE TIME!" Carla cried and shouted.

It was then that Eren, Mikasa and Armin noticed Titan approaching them. It had a wide grin and it was getting closer and closer. The kids knew they were its next target.

"Mikasa, take you brother and Armin! Go or all four of us will die!"

"NO! I can't lose another mother!"

Armin was scared out of his wits. He wanted to run to safety more than anything but he cannot forsake his friend and live the rest of his life knowing that. He can never forgive himself "And if they're not leaving than neither I am."

"Armin, there you are!" an elderly and tired voice came from behind

"Grandfather?" Armin turned to see that indeed it was his grandfather who was panting and had a hand grasping his chest.

"What are you three still doing here?! The Titans are-"

"Grandfather, please help us with this! Mrs. Jaeger is stuck!"

"Oh God!" Armin's grandfather gasped at the site of Carla crashed beneath the house's roof. All this time, he caught his grandson was being foolish and reckless. "Yes, I'll help."

"Gah! Where's Koromon when you need him? With his size, he could lift this no problem!" complained Eren, not caring that Armin's grandfather heard him.

Immediately, someone else arrived using the 3D Maneuvering System. It was Hannes, the family friend of the Jaegers.

"Hannes, Mr. Arlert, please get the kids and run!"

But Hannes spoke "Don't worry, Carla. I'll kill the Titan and save all of you." He drew his dual swords.

"Hannes, don't! You can't kill it.

Hannes dashed towards the Titan with some eagerness to fight and repay his debt to Grisha. But his eagerness vanished and he stopped in his tracks when he got a good look at the Titan. It was fourteen meters tall with a wide grin plastered on its face. It was as if it was mocking him and his futile attempt to fight it. Stare at it was all Hannes could do. He sheathed his swords and turned tail. But as he did, he was met with the most unexpected sight.

A creature, about a quarter the size of the Titan, run passed him. It had towered over him. In those few seconds that Hannes was directly beneath, he had feared it might stomp him flat to the ground.

Hannes followed it with his eyes and saw it charge at the Grinning Titan. Hannes had never laid eyes on such a beast. He could only describe it at best as a wingless Dragon. It had blue stripes on its body, three large claws on each of its hands and feet and apparently wore some sort of brown helmet on the top half of its head with three sharp upward pointing horns: one at its snout, the other two at the back of its head.

"It's not a Titan." That much was clear to him "What is that thing?"

It collided with the Titan's knee, impaling it with its sole frontal horn. The Titan was fourteen meters tall but Koromon was only six.

"Hannes, help us with lifting this off of mother."

**_From what Hannes told me, that was how he first laid eyes on Koromon. But for the rest of us including mom and Armin's grandfather, it was slightly different._**

"Hannes, wait! You can't kill it!" cried Carla

"Mom, let Hannes do his job" Eren told her as they tried to lift the roof.

"I'm sorry, everyone" apologized Armin's grandfather as his hands released the pillar "I just don't have the strength to lift such weight anymore."

Suddenly one of the houses near the Jaeger's ruined home exploded. That caught everyone's attention, suspecting another Titan was near-by. They turned to the source and discovered it was no Titan but nonetheless another Monster.

To Eren, Armin, Mikasa and Carla, it was a monster size version of Koromon with blue stripes on its body with a brown helmet placed on the top part of its head with three horns. It had emerged from one of the houses.

"Oh no! Another Monster!" Armin's grandfather "Kids, just go!" He urged the children. With the claws and the teeth, he could not be blamed to assume that the new beast was a carnivore.

But the children ignored him. They didn't take their hands of the roof holding down Carla but they did gaze at the new creature. It looked at them for a second before turning its now feral sight on the nearest Titan.

It roared before charging the Grinning Titan.

"Was that…" Eren couldn't finish as he saw the new Koromon completely ignore Hannes and fearlessly impaled the knee of the Grinning Titan with its horn.

"Koromon?" Mikasa said, not intentionally finishing Eren's sentence

Armin could only nod, not that Eren and Mikasa saw him.

"Now's our chance. Koromon will fight the Titan."

"Hannes, help us with lifting this off mother."

With Koromon keeping the Titan busy and being scared to fight, Hannes assisted in freeing Carla.

"What is that?" he asked, not really expecting anyone to answer.

"He's a friend. He's helping." Was all Mikasa told him

"Damn it! This… this is useless!" cried an agitated Eren "Even with all of us working together, we keep lift it off."

"Hannes, Mr. Arlert, please. Just take the children and save yourselves."

Hannes and Mr. Arlert were not about to leave a woman behind. But then they saw Koromon being lifted off the ground by the hands of the Grinning Titan.

Not that the Titan found Koromon annoying, it was just in the way. The Titan squeezed Koromon hard in its hands before throwing him at the other houses near the Jaeger home.

"KOROMON, NO!" the three children screamed as their friend was thrown like a rock and crashed into a few houses. The fact that he didn't move didn't help.

"Koromon? You mean that toy that was always with you weeks ago?!" Hannes turned to the Titan and saw the wound inflicted by Koromon was already starting to heal. With their only hope now gone, Hannes and Armin's grandfather looked at each other and nodded their heads.

Hannes hoisted Eren over his shoulder and grabbed Mikasa by her waist. Armin's grandfather took hold of his only grandson's wrist and pulled him away as he ran as fast as his old bones would let him.

"Hey, Hannes, what are you doing?! We can leave! We haven't saved mother yet!" Eren yelled

Mikasa and Armin were quiet.

Carla reached her hand out and cried what maybe her final words to her children and their friend "Eren, Mikasa, Armin, live on!" Tears rolled down her face.

One loud footstep coming from behind her ruined house told her the Titan was there.

Eren, Armin and Mikasa, who had turned her head, could see the Titan digging Carla out of the house with complete ease. Eren gasped when the Titan held within its hand his mother. They could see her struggle in its hand, fighting it and unwilling to go out without a struggle.

Eren had tears flying out of his eyes as Hannes took him away. "NOOOO!"

Armin and Mikasa felt helpless. Mikasa was about to lose a second mother. Armin knew his friends' mother about to be eaten before their eyes. It was not something any child should ever have to see. They could do nothing. Nothing except maybe…

"KOROMON!" yelled Armin "KOROMON, GET UP!" he yelled loud so that Koromon could hear him.

Mikasa and Eren knew what their friend was doing.

"GET UP! PLEASE, KOROMON!" begged Mikasa

"SAVE MOTHER!" probably the first true command he ever gave to his friend.

The Grinning Titan's other hand was drawing closer to Carla, probably to snap her spine so she wouldn't struggle so much. Its hand was about to close in.

"Don't look, Armin" said Armin's grandfather, trying to spare his grandson from the brutal and traumatizing sight.

It was as though Carla's fate was sealed but their cries for help did not go unheard and it will not go unanswered.

Another explosive sound was heard. It came from where Koromon ended up after being thrown. But this time they ignored it, focusing only on Carla.

The only time they placed their attention on Koromon again was when a large hand, one and a half times larger than the Titan's hand, composed of nothing but mere bone violently grabbed and crushed the Titan's wrist and it subsequently release Carla.

Now Carla was plummeting to the ground. Carla screamed in instinct and fear. She wasn't going to die of being eaten by a Titan but now she was going to die of falling from a high altitude.

Eren's heart sunk to his stomach but luckily, she was caught by another large bone hand. It wasn't soft landing, her legs may have been damage but Carla was alive. Lying on her stomach, she looked up to view her savior. And she wasn't the only one.

Eren, Mikasa, Armin, his grandfather and Hannes looked it both awe and fear at what had saved Carla. Hannes and the elderly Arlert gulped. It was just as big as the Titan which nearly killed Carla.

"Is that…" even Eren couldn't help but gulp "still Koromon?" the three children were now scared that perhaps the new Koromon only saved Carla just so he himself can kill her.

Standing fifteen meters tall, Koromon was now completely bone. No skin, no muscle, no organs. His arms and legs were clearly longer. His hands were more human like with five fingers instead of three. His tail was longer and he had four long spikes protruding from his back. In his eyes, or eye sockets, were glowing orbs of red. Gone were its helmet and three horns. It now had one large horn on the center of its head.

The now skeletal Koromon turn ninety degrees and whipped the Titan with his tail. The force of the whip was strong enough to send the Titan flying back a considerable distance. Carla herself was filled with both fear and exhaustion. This was just too stressing. She looked up at what she knew was Koromon. Yes, he now appeared even more frightening than before. Heck, it may even kill her now. It didn't help that Koromon nudged his head, specifically his toothy upper jaw, before Carla.

But it stopped there and then did nothing. Eren and the other stopped in their tracks and were anxious to know what Koromon planned to do next.

Carla stared and stared and waited and waited. It was just a short time but it felt much longer. Carla then took a wild guess. She raised her arm and hand and petted Koromon's skull, just like she had once done when Koromon was smaller.

She got a positive response which was Koromon doing nothing. Whenever anyone had petted his head, Koromon would smile but considering he had no skin, Koromon doing nothing was the best way of indicating a yes.

"Koromon, thank you." All the adrenalin left her system and relief took its place. Carla then lost consciousness

From their vantage point, Eren felt silly. Koromon was still his friend. All his fears and doubt was replaced by awe.

"Amazing!" Eren shouted with a raised fist "With Koromon like that, we may have a fighting chance!"

"Of course, it would take a Monster to beat a Monster." Commented Armin

"Yeah" Mikasa agreed

Hannes and Armin's grandfather was speechless. A Monster had just saved Carla. How often did any of them see such an event? Unconsciously they released the three children.

It was an impossibility. It had no muscle. How did it move? Forget that, it had no organs. No brain, no heart, no lungs. How was it alive? All those question surging through the minds of Armin, Hannes and Mikasa. Eren was just happy his mother was okay. The three children took a few steps forward, digesting the new form their friend took.

"That monster is your friend?" asked Hannes

The three kids turned to him and collectively said with assurance and confidence "Yes!"

They then saw Koromon running towards them. This alarmed Hannes and Armin's grandfather. But Armin held his grandfather's hand.

"It's okay."

When Koromon got close enough, he did not stop running. He just scooped the group into his empty hand. Koromon pulled his hands closer and moved the group into the hand that held Carla.

"Mom!" cried Mikasa and Eren

Hannes got a closer look and sighed "It is okay, you two. She's alive, just asleep. But if we don't get her medical care soon, she might die." Hannes tore a portion of his sleeves and wrapped it tightly on Carla's injured legs to prevent further bleeding.

"Eren, tell this…" Hannes did not want to call it a Monster so close, fearing it may hear and take insult "this friend of yours to go the wall."

"Wait a minute. Is that wise? The soldiers stationed at the gate may see Koromon and consider him an enemy." Armin pointed out.

"He's right" Mikasa agreed

"I know but we won't make it on foot. And I'm sure Mr. Arlert here can't run for too long." Countered Hannes

"You are not wrong in that assumption." Added Armin's grandfather

"And carrying Carla will only slow us down. We'll work it out later but now we need to get to safety." Inwardly though, Hannes couldn't help but think 'Just what the hell is this thing?'

Armin, Eren and Mikasa, on the other hand, took in what was happening. Their friend had grown so much. From to Black Blob, to a Pink Blob with ribbon ears, to a six feet tall lizard creature, to something a lot bigger, then finally to this skeleton monster. There were so many monsters in Shinganshina at the moment but they were just glad this monster was on their side.

The view wasn't that bad either. For the first time, the three kids and the elder saw from a bird's eye view. The old man was cautious but it thrilled the children.

They were nearing the wall and cannons were firing at them.

"NO, STOP! IT'S FRIENDLY!" but the cannon fire kept coming "Damn it! They can't hear me!" Hannes muttered.

But the shots did not bother Koromon. The bone monster protected them by covering them with his other hand.

Armin could only wonder. 'No organs, no blood, just bone and it can take several hits from does cannon without any clear injuries. Just what is Koromon's weakness?'

From the openings between Koromon's fingers, they could tell they were near the walls. Koromon then placed them unexpectedly yet carefully on top of his head. They held on to the sole horn on Koromon's skull. Hannes personally made sure Carla wouldn't fall.

Before anything could be said, Koromon took a great leap up. The soldiers below could only gaze at the strange Monster, taking guesses on where it would land and what it would do. Some were calling for the gate to be closed.

Hannes did his best to hold on tight to Carla while trying to hold on to Koromon's horn. Armin's grandfather had pressed the entirety of the front of his body on the horn, trying desperate to hold on as he closed his eyes.

**_Too bad Armin's grandfather did that. If he hadn't, he would have seen a spectacular sight._**

The three children, who have yet to operate a 3 Dimensional Maneuver Gear, looked in awe. Mikasa looked down, amazed at the view of the houses below becoming smaller as Koromon went higher. Armin turned his head up to the blue sky and the clouds, naively reaching a hand out to see if he could actually touch the clouds. As for Eren, he saw the sun. A pure smile formed on his face. It was at the moment, even just a brief moment, the three children forgot about their troubles.

"Amazing…"

"Wow…"

"Beautiful…"

"Carla, if only you could see this." Hannes too did not miss the opportunity. Even though he had used the 3D Maneuver Gear so many times, it was either for training or duty. He had never really taken the time to stop and enjoy the scenery.

Their thoughts were all then brought back down to earth when Koromon was starting to descend. Ultimately, he landed on the wall. Koromon lowered his head to allow his passengers to get off.

"Koromon!" The three children took several deep breaths. So many things just happened within a span of a couple of minutes.

Hannes took a sigh of relief and gently released Carla. Armin's grandfather, on the other hand, panted and took the deepest breath of his life "An old man like me shouldn't be exposed to such levels of stress." Armin could only pat his grandfather on the shoulder.

Then they heard rumbling. It did not take long for the group to find the source. The rumblings were the footsteps of a Titan. It was very different from the others they've seen excluding the Colossal Titan. It had armored plates covering most of the entirety of its body, save for its joints and jaw muscles. It then took up a certain stance.

Armin traced its pathway and it was the gate "Oh no." Armin seemed to have figured it out

"What's wrong, Armin?"

"That Titan!" He pointed a shaking finger "It's going to destroy the gate."

"WHAT!?" went the group

True to Armin's words, the Armored Titan charged at the wall. The soldiers, in-charge of protecting the gate, fired the batteries which had no affect at all on the Armored Titan.

"We can't let it destroy the gate. We'll lose Wall Maria and hundreds of thousands of people will be displaced!" stated Hannes

Eren, Mikasa and Armin collectively shouted "Koromon-!" but there was no apparent need to finish. Koromon leaped off the wall and landed before the gate. The soldiers who saw the Skeletal Monster were about piss their pants, thinking there were two monsters to deal with.

The next thing they knew was the Monster walking over them, pretty much ignoring them and went straight for the Armored Titan. It stomped and swiped the other Titans that was in the way.

The two monsters clashed, gripping their hands in a lock, trying to get the other to back down. One would push the other back only for the other to return the favor. But it was to Koromon's favor. The Armored Titan was pushed back.

At the top of the wall, the children cheered their friend on.

"That's it."

"Do it, Koromon!"

"Show that Titan who's boss!"

It was different for the forces stationed below, it was different story.

"Is that Monster on our side?" gasped the soldier watching the battle.

"Seems like it."

"Another Titan?!"

"I've never heard of a Titan before that looked like an overgrown lizard that was completely strip to the bone"

"Maybe this is a new one?"

"But why is it fighting that other Titan?"

"Orders, sir?" one of the soldiers asked his superior "Should we fire?"

The commanding officer was too engulfed in the fight to even hear his subordinate speak. "SIR!" he was snapped out of stupor. "ORDERS?!"

"What should we do?!" asked another subordinate

"Uh, let them duke it out. Load the batteries. We wait for them to tire themselves out and then we fire everything we got at the victor. The top priority is for the gate to be closed. The moment that happens, we might as well fire on both of them."

His subordinates nodded. Fighting against a Titan or not, it was strange, horrifying and potentially dangerous creature which they knew had to ability to leapt so high, it was able to reach the top of the wall. It may have been against the Titans but who was to say it wasn't against Humans. They simply could not risk it.

The Armored Titan gave Koromon what would have been a bone crushing punch to the lower jaw, followed by several punches to his chest and one more to his head. Koromon's reply was to swing his tail at the Titan. But the Armored Titan caught it and it used the tail to hoist Koromon off the ground. He was lift up and slammed back down hard on the ground. And again. And again.

The Armored Titan saw that Koromon wouldn't get back up. It picked up Koromon by his spine and tossed him at the soldiers and their batteries. The soldiers got out of the way but the batteries were all destroyed. Koromon didn't stop at the batteries. He tumbled and rolled over hard on the ground, causing debris to fly. Despite resistance and the drag, he was tossed so hard, Koromon was pushed all the way near the gate.

It didn't help that the gate wasn't fully closed yet. And to make things were, a large piece of debris had found itself keeping the gate from properly closing.

"Koromon!" Eren, Mikasa and Armin gasped

"Hannes, please get us down there."

"What? No! I'm not putting you in harm's way!" Hannes rebuked

"You are not going down there, children!" added Armin's grandfather, slightly upset at the very idea.

"Please, Hannes. We need Koromon to get up!"

It was then Armin played his role "Right now, Koromon may be the only one standing between the salvation of Wall Maria and the further invasion of the Titans. We need to get him up and fight again, Hannes. Koromon needs to win, he has to win. And he can't do that if we can't wake him up and get him to fight."

Hannes was torn. He didn't like the idea of getting the kids so close to danger. But at the same time, Armin made sense and he knew no one else would be able to awaken that Monster.

Hannes groaned in frustration. "All right, fine!" the kids were relieved.

"Hannes, you can't be serious?!" demanded Mr. Arlert

"I don't like it any more than you do but they have a point." Hannes didn't wait for any further arguments from the elder. He ordered the kids "Hold on tight to me!"

The kids nodded. They held on to him. Hannes mentally did not lie to himself. The added weight was going to cause problems. But for now, he could care less about that and the kids too had more pressing matters to deal with.

Landing beside the Skeleton Monster, the three kids immediately went to the task of waking it up. Yet in spite their efforts, their friend was unresponsive. It was only then Mikasa remembered that moment with the whistle and that she had the said whistle in her pocket.

She took it out. "Mikasa?" Eren wondered

Mikasa took the deepest breath of her life. She closed her eyes then blew all the air she could spare into the whistle. When she stopped due to the lack of air and opened her eyes, she was disappointed to see Koromon still down.

The Armored Titan took up his stance again and was ready to charge at the gate.

"Let me try." Armin instantly grabbed the whistle out of Mikasa's hand. Doing what Mikasa did, Armin blew his lungs out. It got a response. Koromon's fingers twitched but that was all.

The Armored Titan was getting closer.

"Give me that!" it was Eren's turn "Let this work!" He shouted. He took the deepest breath of his life. It was now or never. The last desperate attempt. If this wouldn't awaken Koromon, they were all going to die. Eren blew the whistle.

And that did it.

Koromon quickly yet carefully took hold of the large debris jamming the gate and threw at the Armored Titan's face, halting its attempt to destroy the gate. It may be armored it still needed its eyes to see.

"That's right! Koromon!" the children cheered

"You did it, Eren!" Armin congratulated while Mikasa just patted him on the shoulder.

Koromon got up and roared an unholy roar. Hannes was frightened but the three children were feeling the exact opposite. Koromon charged up and tackled the temporarily blinded Armored Titan. He used his horn to impale the Armored Titan at its unprotected jaw muscles. Koromon's tail then whipped the Armored Titan, causing to fall over.

And to return in kind the Armored Titan's earlier stunt, Koromon took hold on the Armored Titan's ankle. Koromon spun a few times before gaining enough force to toss the Armored Titan a considerable distance.

The Armored Titan crashed into several houses. It soon got up but did no further attempts to fight Koromon or destroy the gate. The gate by now was already closed.

Koromon, on the other hand, was weak and tired. He may not have organs but he still felt fatigue. The three kids wanted to go and get him but Hannes wouldn't allow it. He wanted to get the kids over the wall and safe.

The bony Monster lumbered all the way back to where they were. Koromon lowered himself to the kids' level.

"You did it, Koromon" They whispered "You stop it and saved the gate."

The three kids ignored Hannes and tried to make their way to their skeletal monster of a friend, eager to show their affection and appreciation for what he's done.

"FIRE!" ordered an officer of the Garrison

But before the three children could reach their friend, a cannonball shot at Koromon's left shoulder bones. The monster roared in pain as smoke erupted from his injured shoulder.

'He can feel pain.' Armin concluded 'I don't know how but he can feel pain. While ago he must have just brushed it off but now he's tired and worn down.' Another cannonball impacted Koromon, resulting in another roar. 'No! They're hurting him!'

The youngsters and Hannes saw this and knew immediately they should act.

Mikasa waved her arms up in an attempt to get the attention of the Garrison soldiers firing at Koromon. Armin and Eren yelled as loud as they could for them to stop.

"HEY STOP!"

"HE'S ON OUR SIDE!"

But it was to no avail. To the soldiers, a monster was a monster regardless of what it did and Koromon was by far the scariest they've seen. The Colossal and Armored Titans were intimidating but the bony giant was terrifying. The Garrison soldiers just fired again and again, not really caring if Hannes and the children were harmed in the process. All this canon fire forced Koromon to back away. When the kids saw this they tried to stop them.

"No!"

"Koromon, wait!"

Koromon had turned around and it was clear Eren, Mikasa and Armin would go after him despite the dangers of the canon fire. It was then Hannes made his move. He couldn't allow the children to be in danger anymore. It may have been against their wishes but Hannes was getting them out of harm's way. He didn't even care if they would hate him forever. There were still Titans after all. Hannes hoisted Armin over his shoulder and grabbed hold of Eren and Mikasa's hands tightly as he ran to the closed gate.

"Hannes, what are you doing?!" shouted Eren as he struggled out of Hannes's grip.

"Koromon is… Koromon is…" Armin couldn't finish his sentence.

"He's leaving" Eren pointed at the monster as he ran towards the broken gate of Shinganshina, getting away from the canon shots fired at him.

"KOROMON!" Mikasa shouted. "KOROMON!" she called his name, hoping that he would hear her and come back. "KOROMON!"

It was a hope shared by Eren and Armin "KOROMON!" they did it too.

Yet they couldn't stop the tears from falling. They didn't want him to leave.

Hannes listened and listened. He knew not what to say. He did not know where to begin in trying to comfort them. He never knew personally the Monster that had saved their lives. He never befriended the Monster that saved Wall Maria. But what he did know was that the children had lost a dear friend.

Hannes kept quiet and allowed the children to call for their friend. When Koromon was out of the children's sight and they grew tired of call after him, Hannes finally spoke though quietly "I'm sorry, you three. I really am."

Hannes had reached the gate and allowed the kids to relax for a moment. Long enough to dry their tears but short enough to avoid becoming Titan food.

"Come on" He tapped Eren's shoulder but it got all the kids' attention "Let's go."

**_Koromon fought the Titans. Thanks to him, my mother survived and things didn't go from bad to worse. _**

**_But he would be reported and remember as nothing more than Aberrant Titan called the Bone Titan. And the worst part of it is, I never even got to tell him thank you for saving mother._**

**_It was an encounter no one, not even me, Armin and Mikasa, ever expected. And he is still out there somewhere._**

**_But that is why we are here now._**

* * *

And that's the end of that.

Yes, I had Armin go with them to Eren's house when that large boulder crashed it.

For all those who are wondering why Koromon is still being addressed as Koromon despite having evolved into Agumon then Greymon then SkullGreymon, then the answer is simple. In the original version of Digimon Adventure Movie, Koromon was also addressed as Koromon by Taichi and Hikari even though he evolved. This is because Koromon stopped talking after evolving into Agumon. He didn't even call out the names of his attacks. And that is what also happened here. It was only until Digimon Adventure episode 1 and 2 where we learn the names Agumon and Greymon.

And as to why I had him evolve into SkullGreymon, why not? Koromon evolved quickly in the film. Besides, MetalGreymon isn't as intimidating as SkullGreymon. And I am sure you have noticed I didn't include SkullGreymon's trademark shark-like missile.

Well I hope you enjoyed.


End file.
